About 200 Children Still Need Your Help From Gifts for Kids

For more than 20 years, the Gifts for Kids organization, which is based in Sharon, has been helping Norfolk County children in need.

"I know there are Medfield families who participate, I just don't know how many," said Janet Bean, one of many volunteers who help run the program. 

Bean said there is no way to tell where each child lives because the agencies -- including the Department of Children & Families, Cole Harrington Children's Center, Dedham Youth Commission, Self Help, and Norwood Pediatrics -- only provide the first name and age of each child along with their wish list.  

Gifts for Kids giftgiving is "specifically targeted at our part of Norfolk county," she said.

With just a few days left to collect gifts, the group still seeks sponsors for nearly 200 children in its service area of Medfield, Dover, Foxboro, Sharon, and Waltham, according to http://giftsforkidsinfo.com/.

Organizers received requests seeking sponsors for nearly 950 children identified by human services providers in south Norfolk County.

"The hardest ones are the teenagers, so gift cards are great," Bean said. 

Requested teen items (ranging in size from women's small to men's extra-large) include Boston sports teams sweatshirts, fleeces, scarves, hats, bath and body products, and gift certificates to 'box' stores.

And "People can still do cash donations, since we have volunteer shoppers lined up," she added.

Gifts can be dropped off today from 4 to 6 p.m. at the VFW on Robbins Road in Walpole, and at in Sharon on Thursday, Dec. 15.

Bean explained that the dropoff locations are in Sharon and Walpole because the group's founders live in Sharon, and the Walpole Girl Scouts have been involved with Gifts for Kids since its inception.

For more information or to become a sponsor, contact any of the following individuals between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m.: Abigail Marsters at abigailmarsters@comcast.net or 781-784-4372; Teri Gorsky at luckygorsk@aol.com or 781-784-1441; or Karen Gordon at kwgordon@gmail.com  or 781-784-7616.

Monetary donations can be mailed (payable to "Gifts for Kids") to Gifts for Kids Inc., PO Box 464, Sharon, MA, 02067. Gifts for Kids is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization and all donations are tax deductible.